Written Answers Wednesday 18 May 2005

Scottish Executive

Agriculture

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the letters of 19 February and 27 October 2004 and 6 April 2005 from its Environment and Rural Affairs Department on the employment of foreign workers at Monaghan Mushrooms, Fenton Barns, East Lothian, what progress has been made regarding the employment of these workers and, in particular, the identification of agencies providing contract labour.

Ross Finnie: Investigations into compliance with the relevant Agricultural Wages Orders by these agencies are on-going and it would not be appropriate to comment further.

Agriculture

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the letters of 19 February and 27 October 2004 and 6 April 2005 from its Environment and Rural Affairs Department on the employment of foreign workers at Monaghan Mushrooms, Fenton Barns, East Lothian, whether it has accessed the wage records of the foreign workers employed at Monaghan Mushrooms and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.

Ross Finnie: Investigations into this matter are on-going and it would not be appropriate at this stage to comment further.

Agriculture

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to the employment practices of Monaghan Mushrooms at Fenton Barns in East Lothian, what information it has on the request by Donegal Creameries plc, associate company of Monaghan Mushrooms, for its shares to be suspended from the Irish stock exchange due to "financial irregularities" and whether the Executive will be involved in any possible inquiries.

Allan Wilson: The Executive has no information on a request by Donegal Creameries plc for its shares to be suspended from the Irish Stock Exchange nor do we expect to be involved in any possible enquiries.

Ambulance Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the Operational Research Consultancy (ORCON) standards have been for the Scottish Ambulance Service in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board area.

Mr Andy Kerr: Prior to the introduction of the priority-based dispatch system which rolled out across mainland Scotland between August 2002 and April 2004, 999 emergency calls to the Scottish Ambulance Service were dealt with on a "first come first served" basis. The speed of response depended not on the condition of the patient but on the volume of calls being responded to and the ambulance resources available at the time. The performance standards applied by the Scottish Ambulance Service varied according to population density – as with other ambulance services in the United Kingdom. These are known as the ORCON standards. In Scotland, to ensure that the standards reflected local demography, they were applied based on local authority areas. The standards were:

  High Density (more than 3.0 persons per acre) – 50% of calls to be responded to within seven minutes and 95% within 14 minutes;

  Medium Density (less than 3.0 but more than 0.5 persons per acre) – 50% of calls to be responded to within eight minutes and 95% within 18 minutes;

  Sparse Density (less than 0.5 persons per acre) – 50% of calls to be responded to in eight minutes and 95% within 21 minutes.

  Under the priority based dispatch system, which is used in all mainland board areas, 999 emergency calls are processed using well proven, clinically approved, screen based software (called Automatic Medical Priority Dispatch System). Based on the responses of the caller, the software assigns the call a response category. The categories and standards applied are:

  Category A – clinically defined as "immediately life threatening". The target is that by March 2008, 75% of such calls should be responded to within eight minutes across mainland Scotland. The ambulance service has phased the introduction of priority based dispatch and is progressing towards this target.

  Category B – clinically defined as "not life threatening but still serious". The target for this category of calls is that 95% should be responded to within either 14, 19 or 21 minutes depending on the population density of the health board.

  The ambulance service continues to apply ORCON standards to their responses to calls from NHS Western Isles, NHS Shetland and NHS Orkney.

Defence

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it defines "grey boats" and what categories of boats it classifies in this way.

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all publicly-funded "grey boats" commissioned by organisations in Scotland in each year since 1999.

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all orders for publicly-funded "grey boats" placed in Scotland by organisations in (a) Scotland and (b) the rest of the United Kingdom in each year since 1999.

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all orders for publicly-funded "grey boats" placed outside Scotland by organisations in Scotland in each year since 1999.

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all orders for publicly-funded "grey boats" placed outside the United Kingdom by organisations in Scotland in each year since 1999.

Mr Tom McCabe: The term "grey boats" (or "grey vessels"), as the Executive understands it, refers to boats or ships which have a naval/military function. Defence is a matter reserved to UK Ministers and, as such, the Executive does not have any responsibility for "grey boats".

  It should be noted that Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency patrol boats are civilian vessels which have no military role or capacity.

Dental Health

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to Towards Better Oral Health in Children - An Independent Analysis of Responses to the Consultation on Children’s Oral Health , who the "independent researchers" were who compiled the document.

Mr Andy Kerr: The independent research was carried out by George Street Research Ltd of Edinburgh.

Education

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the responses to its consultation on the draft Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Bill and whether it will place these in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Peter Peacock: All non-confidential responses to the consultation will be made available to the public in the Scottish Executive library 20 working days after the closing date of the consultation period and thereafter on the Scottish Executive website www.scotland.gov.uk .

Education

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish its analysis of the responses to the consultation on the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Bill.

Peter Peacock: Yes, an analysis of the responses will be published in due course.

Education

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when the table "Number and percentage of school pupils with no qualifications at Standard Grade (or equivalent) or better on leaving school", available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 33501), will be updated to show the number of children who left school with no qualifications in 2003-04.

Peter Peacock: A revised table is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 36493). The revised table clarifies that the information provided in response to this question and the original question S2W-9895 refers to school leavers who have not achieved full course awards.

Education

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many candidates have achieved 70% or above in standard grade (a) maths and (b) English in each year since 1997.

Peter Peacock: The information requested is not available in the form sought.

  Standard Grade has three levels of study (Credit, General and Foundation) and students achieve a grade 1-6 across these levels. Information on candidate results are published in these terms rather than percentages. This is to avoid confusion between the different levels of study.

Environment

Mark Ballard (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive who is legally responsible for maintaining the cleanliness of the lower section of the Water of Leith.

Lewis Macdonald: It is an offence under the Control of Pollution Act 1974 for anyone to cause pollution of a watercourse other than as permitted by a discharge consent. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has a general duty to promote the cleanliness of waters in Scotland, and it may take action against anyone considered responsible for pollution.

Fresh Talent Initiative

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to promote employment opportunities in Scotland and the Fresh Talent initiative at events around the world, broken down by country and type of activity.

Mr Tom McCabe: We have undertaken a number of activities to promote the Fresh Talent initiative at events overseas. These are as follows.

  

 Name of Country
 Date
 Type of Activity


 Hong Kong
 21 October 2004
 Education Fair. Also media interviews to coincide with the fair.


 Singapore
 23-24 October 2004
 Education Fair. Also media interviews to coincide with the fair.


 China (Beijing, Qingdao and Shanghai)
 26 February to 6 March 2005
 Three Education Fairs. Also media interviews to coincide with fairs.


 Malaysia (Penang)
 26-27 February 2005
 Education Fair. Also media interviews to coincide with fair.


 Singapore
 3-6 March 2005
 Education Fair. Also media interviews to coincide with fair.


 Poland
 16-19 March 2005
 Two careers fairs. Also media interviews to coincide with fairs.


 India (New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore)
 8-19 April 2005
 Three Education Fairs. Also media interviews to coincide with fairs. 


 USA (New York – Tartan week)
 1-10 April 2005
 Exhibition Stand within Scotland Village, Grand Central Station



  In addition, the Executive has carried out other activities overseas to promote specific employment opportunities. For example, the Executive’s teacher recruitment campaign has undertaken advertising in targeted press in England. In addition, promotional material for the campaign was made available at the Fresh Talent stands at the careers fairs in Poland in March, and an official from the Executive’s Teachers’ Division has appeared on Polish television to promote teaching in Scotland as a career. Scottish Development International and Talent Scotland have also undertaken considerable overseas activity to promote job opportunities in Scotland.

Fresh Talent Initiative

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-15849 by Mr Tom McCabe on 5 May 2005, how many enquiries regarding the Fresh Talent initiative have been received from Poland and how many applications from Poland are expected in 2005.

Mr Tom McCabe: To date, the Relocation Advisory Service has received over 1,000 enquiries from Poland. As Poland is a member of the European Union, individuals do not need to apply for a work permit to take up employment in the United Kingdom. They are therefore not eligible for the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme which is designed to assist nationalities who are subject to work permit requirements.

Fresh Talent Initiative

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-15846 by Mr Tom McCabe on 5 May 2005, how many enquiries regarding the Fresh Talent initiative have been received from the United States of America (USA) and how many applications from the USA are expected in 2005.

Mr Tom McCabe: To date, the Relocation Advisory Service has received over 470 enquiries from the United States of America. We have no estimates or targets for the number of applications expected from American students to the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme.

Fresh Talent Initiative

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-15849 by Mr Tom McCabe on 5 May 2005, why Poland was selected for promotion of the Fresh Talent initiative; whether there are plans to conduct similar promotional activities in other European countries and, if so, in which countries and when the promotional activities will take place.

Mr Tom McCabe: We selected Poland as an early target for our Fresh Talent promotional activity as it was the largest of the EU Accession States, and from the evidence available, had a large and skilled pool of workers who might be interested in coming to work in Scotland.

  We are currently evaluating our early promotional activity, with a view to reaching decisions about future activity, including whether to include other European countries in our future plans.

Fresh Talent Initiative

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Home Office has advised it of how many applicants seeking residency in Scotland have had their application rejected since the outset of the Fresh Talent initiative.

Mr Tom McCabe: This is not information that has been requested from, or provided by, the Home Office.

Health

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what further action it has taken in respect of endometriosis since the matter was debated in the Parliament on 28 June 2001.

Rhona Brankin: One of the most significant effects of endometriosis is infertility and the Executive has taken forward work on infertility services through the report of the Expert Advisory Group on Infertility Services in Scotland. The Executive has reviewed criteria for access to services and will report on this over the next few weeks.

  The Chief Scientist has funded a research project at the University of Aberdeen on the relationship between endometrial proteins and endometriosis.

  We have assisted voluntary organisations in identifying relevant sources of funding for which they can apply.

  In relation to the professional guidelines developed by the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, we expect all bodies within NHS boards with responsibility for clinical governance to have regard for clinical guidelines.

Housing

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many houses are currently unoccupied and what plans it has to reoccupy these houses.

Malcolm Chisholm: The latest available information on unoccupied dwellings comes from council tax billing systems as at 6 September 2004. This indicates that there were a total of 109,591 unoccupied dwellings in Scotland. Houses can be empty for various reasons. The figure quoted covers both the social-rented and private sectors and includes second homes, holiday lets and dwellings awaiting improvement or demolition.

  The Scottish Executive continues to pursue a range of initiatives to bring empty properties back into use. Local authorities are required to produce local housing strategies to tackle the housing problems in their areas. This can include assessing the need for action on empty homes if it is a priority for their area. The Empty Homes Initiative returned around 1,400 properties between 1997 and 2002. Communities Scotland is responsible for the Rural Empty Properties Grant and Lead Tenancies Empty Property Lease Scheme which also supports the letting or re-occupation of empty houses. Empty houses in the local authority and housing association sectors will be addressed, whether through demolitions or improvements through Scottish Housing Quality Standard delivery plans. We are also encouraging public sector landlords to minimise transitional vacancies through efficient letting processes.

Mental Health

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether its Health Department and NHS Lothian will take action to address the acute clinical needs of psychiatric patients in Lothian.

Mr Andy Kerr: Meeting the clinical needs of all patients in Lothian is the responsibility of Lothian NHS Board. Among the recommendations arising from NHS Lothian’s recent public consultation on proposals for acute hospital services, services for older people and mental health services, is the replacement of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital. As part of the replacement programme, NHS Lothian plans to move acute adult inpatient mental health services to new facilities on the Royal Edinburgh site and to St John’s Hospital in Livingston.

  Major changes are also planned in East Lothian, which will result in a new Haddington Hospital, to replace the existing buildings at Roodlands and Herdmanflat. There will, of course, be community mental health services in place before the acute services are closed.

NHS Staff

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many volunteers are working in NHS hospitals, broken down by NHS board.

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many volunteers have worked in the NHS in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

Mr Andy Kerr: While NHS boards are expected to develop and operate policies and procedures which maximise the contribution of volunteers, the information requested is not available centrally.

Nutrition

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of how the National Priorities Action Fund is allocated, including funds directed to nutrition in schools and the inclusion programme.

Peter Peacock: The National Priorities Action Fund is allocated to local authorities across six themes: Integrated Community Schools, Social Justice, Discipline and Ethos, School Infrastructure, National Qualifications and Nutrition. Each theme supports a range of policy objectives. Nutrition is a theme in its own right, and the inclusion programme is contained within the Social Justice theme. A breakdown of 2005-06 allocations supporting nutrition (for school meals and free fruit) and the inclusion programme is provided in the following table:

  

 Authority
 Inclusion
 Nutrition


 Aberdeen City
£986,956
£867,870


 Aberdeenshire
£1,175,345
£1,147,521


 Angus
£529,858
£544,927


 Argyll and Bute
£407,407
£425,096


 Clackmannanshire
£243,885
£270,842


 Dumfries and Galloway
£691,322
£710,020


 Dundee City
£697,972
£827,958


 East Ayrshire
£602,337
£654,740


 East Dunbartonshire
£529,793
£615,425


 East Lothian
£434,743
£500,293


 East Renfrewshire
£444,664
£524,835


 Edinburgh, City of
£1,946,103
£1,960,751


 Eilean Siar
£135,318
£139,116


 Falkirk
£692,838
£731,543


 Fife
£1,743,934
£1,785,299


 Glasgow City
£2,970,010
£3,231,088


 Highland
£1,038,510
£1,192,790


 Inverclyde
£432,036
£473,363


 Midlothian
£400,670
£454,803


 Moray
£436,628
£442,947


 North Ayrshire
£716,038
£761,048


 North Lanarkshire
£1,689,521
£1,983,674


 Orkney Islands
£98,776
£104,551


 Perth and Kinross
£634,699
£588,279


 Renfrewshire
£883,697
£1,058,032


 Scottish Borders
£487,749
£511,013


 Shetland Islands
£124,206
£119,097


 South Ayrshire
£538,068
£549,781


 South Lanarkshire
£1,557,950
£1,714,071


 Stirling
£420,382
£441,431


 West Dunbartonshire
£503,042
£550,641


 West Lothian
£805,543
£879,164

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-16219 by Cathy Jamieson on 5 May 2005, why HM Chief Inspector of Prisons no longer produces this annexe to the inspection report on HM Prison Kilmarnock.

Cathy Jamieson: The Chief Inspector does not produce this annex for any inspection report. He does not treat Kilmarnock differently.

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many inmates have escaped from each (a) prison and (b) young offenders institution in each of the last three years.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  In 2002-03, one prisoner escaped from Dumfries prison. In 2003-04, one prisoner escaped from Low Moss prison. In 2004-05, one prisoner escaped from Low Moss prison.

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many inmates have absconded from each (a) prison and (b) young offenders institution in each of the last three years.

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many inmates there have been in each (a) prison and (b) young offenders institution in each of the last three years.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The information is given in the SPS Annual Report and Accounts for 2001-2002, 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 copies of which are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (references SE/2002/178, SE/2003/190 and SE/2004/131 respectively) or via the Scottish Prison Service website: http://www.sps.gov.uk/keydocs.

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the incidence of fire has been in each (a) prison and (b) young offenders institution in each of the last three years.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The fires reported to the Health and Safety Branch between 1 April 2001 – 31 March 2004 are as follows:

  

 Establishment
 2001-02
 2002-03
 2003-04


 Aberdeen
 4
 12
 4


 Barlinnie
 6
 24
 14


 Castle Huntly
 1
 1
 0


 Cornton Vale
 12
 6
 6


 Dumfries
 1
 3
 2


 Edinburgh
 6
 11
 15


 Glenochil
 4
 8
 7


 Greenock
 0
 5
 0


 Inverness
 2
 6
 3


 Low Moss
 1
 0
 1


 Noranside
 0
 1
 2


 Perth
 5
 7
 8


 Peterhead
 0
 0
 0


 Polmont
 12
 30
 23


 Shotts
 2
 0
 0

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of inmates have undergone mandatory drug testing in each (a) prison and (b) young offenders institution in each of the last three years.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  10% in each month.

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost per prisoner place has been in each (a) prison and (b) young offenders institution in each of the last three years.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  It is not possible to provide a cost per prisoner place for each public prison as there are a number of significant costs which are met centrally for SPS as a whole. The annual running cost of private prisons and the annual average cost per prisoner place are given in the SPS Annual Report and Accounts for 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 copies of which are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (references SE/2003/190 and SE/2004/131 respectively) or via the Scottish Prison Service website http://www.sps.gov.uk/keydocs.

  Figures for 2004-05 will be included in SPS’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2004-05 when published.

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost per prisoner has been in each (a) prison and (b) young offenders institution in each of the last three years.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  A total cost per prisoner for each public prison is not available as there are a number of significant costs which are met centrally for SPS as a whole. The annual running cost of private prisons and the annual average cost per prisoner place, for SPS as a whole, are given in the SPS Annual Report and Accounts for 2001-2002, 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 copies of which are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (references SE/2002/178, SE/2003/190 and SE/2004/131 respectively) or via the Scottish Prison Service website http://www.sps.gov.uk/keydocs.

Prison Service

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many persons under 16 years of age have been held in prison in each of the last six years, broken down by (a) prison and (b) length of stay.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  I refer the member to the answers to questions S2W-16259 and S2W-16260 on 11 May 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Roads

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-15893 by Nicol Stephen on 26 April 2005, under which subsection and paragraph of sections 103 and 104 of the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 it acted in purchasing plots referred to in Annex B of the letter of 24 March 2005 containing Scottish ministers’ decision on the M74.

Nicol Stephen: The powers for acquiring land that are contained in sections 103 and 104 of the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 have to be read with the remainder of Part IX of the act, which provides further provisions depending on what use the land is to be put.

Speech and Language Therapy

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many speech and language therapists were recruited in Aberdeenshire in (a) 2000, (b) 2001, (c) 2002, (d) 2003 and (e) 2004; how many it anticipates will be recruited in 2005, and what the (i) retention and (ii) average vacancy rate has been in each of these years.

Mr Andy Kerr: This information is not held centrally for Aberdeenshire. The only figures that are available to the Department are those from the local health board NHS Grampian. NHS Grampian covers three local authority areas: Aberdeenshire; Aberdeen City, and Moray.

  However, the department is aware of the difficulties that some NHS boards are experiencing in securing some specialist professional staff to undertake the various duties within the health service across whole of Scotland. These workforce shortages are being addressed rigorously and NHS boards as employers are pursing several initiatives on behalf of the health service that will make the NHS in Scotland, as an exemplar employer, an attractive career option so to recruit and retain more staff.

Speed Cameras

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many times automatic speed cameras detected vehicles breaking the speed limit by (a) any amount, (b) over 10% and (c) over 30% in each of the last five years.

Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is not held centrally.

Speed Cameras

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many occasions when automatic speed cameras detected vehicles breaking the speed limit by any amount resulted in (a) no action being taken in respect of a UK registered vehicle, (b) no action being taken in respect of a non-UK registered vehicle other than a diplomatic plate vehicle, (c) no action being taken in respect of a diplomatic plate vehicle, (d) a warning of any kind being issued, (e) a fixed penalty notice being issued and (f) other court action being taken in each of the last five years.

Cathy Jamieson: Information relating to (a), (b), (c) and (e) is not held centrally.

  In respect of (d), Notices of Intended Prosecution (NIP) under Section 1 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 are issued automatically to registered keepers of the vehicle concerned and any named drivers. Table 1 gives details of issued Notices of Intended Prosecution (NIP) by safety camera partnerships that have joined the Scottish Safety Camera Programme since it was first piloted in 2000-02. This information is for all camera types (fixed and mobile) and excludes offences involving travelling at excessive speeds that would render the driver liable to automatic disqualification. .

  Table 1: Notices of Intended Prosecution (NIP) by Safety Camera Partnership

  

 Partnership
 2001-02
 2002-03
 2003-04


 Strathclyde
 73,700
 48,456
 74,580


 Fife
 -
 9,790
 12,208


 North East
 -
 9,490
 20,512


 Lothian and Borders
 -
 -
 39,081


 Tayside
 -
 -
 11,260


 Dumfries and Galloway
 -
 -
 11,506



  Note: Figures given are for partnerships from the year they joined the Safety Camera Programme. Final figures for 2004-05 have still to be collected. Central Scotland is not currently part of the programme. The partnerships in the table expanded or joined the programme as indicated below.

  In 2001-02, Strathclyde included only Glasgow City Council area.

  In 2002-03, Strathclyde expanded to cover four local authority areas; Fife joined the programme in April 2002 and the North East Partnership joined in October 2002.

  In 2003-04, Strathclyde expanded to 12 local authority areas; Dumfries and Galloway joined the programme in July 2003, Lothian and Borders in July 2003 and Tayside in July 2003.

  In respect of (f), information on speeding offences detected by automatic speed cameras which resulted in a police conditional offer is given in Table 17 Police conditional offers for moving vehicle offences by type of offence, 1994-2003 of the statistical bulletin Criminal Proceedings in Scottish Courts, 2003, published by the Scottish Executive in 2005. A copy of this table is available in the Scottish Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 36012). The totals for automatic detection of speeding offences for each year since 1999 are summarised in table 2.

  Table 2 – Totals for Automatic Detection of Speeding Offences 1999-2003

  

 Automatic Detection
 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003


 Speeding - Restricted Areas
 28,319
 30,217
 42,974
 42,298
 78,557


 Speeding - Other
 20,526
 22,511
 22,881
 27,774
 53,782


 Total
 48,845
 52,728
 65,855
 70,072
 132,339